Sports

MLB Approves Automated Strike Zone Challenge System for 2026

SEP 24 2025·Updated SEP 27 2025

Story

Above: Major League Baseball umpire calls strike three at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Mo., on Sept. 19, 2025. Image credit: Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images

The Facts

Major League Baseball's 11-man competition committee voted Tuesday to implement the Automated Ball/Strike System for the 2026 season, allowing teams to challenge ball and strike calls made by human umpires.
NBC
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Teams will receive two challenges per game and retain successful challenges, with additional challenges granted in extra innings if teams have exhausted their allotments during regulation play.
OutKick
ESPN.com
Only pitchers, catchers and batters can initiate challenges by tapping their helmet or cap, while managers and coaches are prohibited from requesting reviews of ball and strike calls.
FOX News
Sports Illustrated
The system uses Hawk-Eye camera technology with 12 cameras per ballpark that track pitches with a margin of error of about one-sixth of an inch, displaying results on stadium videoboards.
NBC
FOX News
ESPN.com
During spring training testing, teams averaged 4.1 challenges per game with a 52.2% success rate, adding an average of 13.8 seconds per challenge to game duration.
OutKick
ESPN.com
MLB data shows that 61.5% of ejections among players, managers and coaches in the previous season were related to balls and strikes disputes, while umpires currently call approximately 94% of pitches correctly.
The Associated Press
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The Spin

Techno-optimist narrative

This technology represents a necessary evolution that preserves baseball's integrity while correcting egregious missed calls in crucial moments. The challenge system strikes the perfect balance by maintaining umpires' central role while providing accountability when it matters most. With umpire calls still generally accurate, fans deserve a more precise system without losing the human element.

Sports Illustrated

San Diego Union

Techno-skeptic narrative

While the MLB should honor the loud calls from fans to implement an automated system, the league should be careful not to become fully automated. Minor league trials show 61% of players and staff prefer the challenge system, with only 11% favoring full ABS. Fans also prefer challenges, with experts warning that ABS's rigid calls could spark disputes and erode baseball's human element, risking a less engaging, mechanical game.